Peters



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. D. PAUL. Gar Brake.

No; 229,747. Patented July 6, 1880.

NVENTOR 4% A'r'ro hNEYs Qua/@ lbw 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. D. PAUL. Gar Brake. No. 229,747. Patented Ju'ly 6, 1880.

& kw z e W N.FETERS. PHOTU-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D O.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

G. D. PAUL. Gar Brake.

No. 229,747. Patented July 6,1880.

INVENTOR T ESSES N.PETERE, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPNER, WASHINGTON, 0 O.

UNITED- "STATES @FFICE.

- GEORGE D; PAUL,-OF NEW YORK, AssIGNOR TOIHIMSELF, HERMAN o.

MERSEREAU, AND WILLIAM LIsLE, JR, OF BROOKLYN, N. Y.

"CAR -BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,747, dated July 6, 1886,

Application filed December 13, 1879.

New 'York, in.,the county of New York and atpractically right angles to the axle, oper- Y ates, in many instances, to weaken and break State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Gar Brakes; and I do hereby declare the .following to be a full, clear, and exact deseription of the invention, such as will enable others skilledtin the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being. had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters of reference 'marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Myinvention relates to-an improvement in railway-car brakes.

. In car-brakes of .ordinary construction the brake-shoes are applieddirectly to the treads of the wheels, whichplan is objectionable for several reasons,'among which may be mentioned the following Severe strain brought against the periphery of I the car-wheels, and

I .the axle. Again, the car-wheels are often flattened by the application of brake-shoes to their peripheries, andthis. objection causes. annoyance and even dangertothe traveling public. I r :Further, in the ordinary. brakes no provision is made for supporting thei truck should the wheel or axle break, and many accidents and great loss of lifeeand propertyoccur by rear; ing-to a broken wheel or axle,-.thus wrecking I an entire train.

- The object of my invention is to obviate the difficulties and} defects incident to the use of car-brakes of ordinary construction, as; above i referred to, andto provide a-railway-car brake of such construction-thatthe brake-shoes may.

be brought into direct frictional contact with .thetreads oi ,the. rails of-the trackand serve. I to check-othe motion ot the -traimnand also serveto support andnautomaticallystop. the-1 movement of .theicar-byits weight .shouldac- -.or bolt, e ,.to prevent it from falling out. spiral or other spring, H, encircles the shank a son of the truck dropping uponthe track,ow-

cident; happensby a breakagetof a-.wheel,or.

In thaaccompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved truck, showing the position of parts when the brakes are off. i Fig. is a-similar view, showing the brake when; applied. Fig. 3 is a plan view of .the under side of the truck, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged detached view of a pair of the brake arms,-shoes,- and actuating-eccentrics. Fig. 5 is avertical transverse section of one of the brake-shoes and supporting-box.

A represents a truck-frame, and B the carwheels. 0 is the truck-bolster, provided at opposite ends with brackets D. Between the plates or frames at a. of each bracket are pivoted, at-b b, the inner ends of the brakelevers E- E, the outer ends of the latter having the boxes F F pivoted thereto, said boxes being retained in a vertical position by means of the linkso c ,which latter are pivoted at their outer ends to the upper ends of said boxes and pivoted at their inner ends to the brackets D. Withineach ofthe boxes F F is placed a vertieallynnovable block, G, which is of angular form in transverse-section, and fits within an opening, inrthe partition 01 of the box, thus preventing the block from turning within the box.

The upperend of the block is provided with a .shank, e, which extends upward through the top 6' of the box, and is provided with a pin A e, the lowervend of ,the spring resting upon a shoulder or seat formed on the upper end of the block Gr, while. the upper end of the spring restspag-ainst the under surface of the box, whereby the block is allowed to yield against :the. force exerted by the spring.

The lowerend of the block G is formed with a slot, f, ,within which is pivoted the flat-sided lug g, formed on the rear or upper side of the brake-shoe I, while between the log and block ,lowen'portion of the box, and has its opposite ends attached to thebrake-shoes, to prevent the latter,or parts thereof, from falling beneath the wheels should the shoe become displaced or broken while the cars are in motion. Between the inner and adjacent ends of the brake-levers is journaled a. shaft, L, having eccentrics or cams M N on its upper and lower end. These cams or eccentrics are so constructed and arranged that the upper eccentric, M, will impart a positive movement to the brake-levers in depressing the brake-shoes and forcing them in contact with the rails, while a reverse rotation of the shaft causes the lower eccentrics, N, to

.raisethe brake-shoes from contact with the rails. This operation is efi'ected by forming upper and lower projections, 0 O, on the inner ends of each brake-lever, the eccentrics operating against said projections aml on opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the brake-levers.

To the end of the eccentric-shaft L is sooured the arm p of the lever I, the latter being pivotedtothetruck-bolsterat Q. Spiralsprings R R are secured at their inner ends to the central portion ofthe bolster aml at their outer ends to the arms of the levers I, while to the arms 1) are secured the ends of links S, the opposite ends of which are pivoted to the opposite end of the swinging bar or rod '1. Brake-rods are attached to the ends of rod '1, said rods having chains secured to their ends, which are attached to the drums or shafts of the ordinary brake-wheel shafts of the car.

U U are braces having their ends attached to plates V V, pivoted to the outer endsof the brake-levers and their central portions supported in a depending plate, W, or suitable posts or lugs attached to the under side of the bolster.

The inner sides of the boxes extend down below the wearingfaces of the brake-shoes, forming independent flanges X, which prevent any lateral displacement of the shoes and retain the latter on the tread of the track when used to brake the train, and, further, prevent the truck from leaving the rails should the wheel or axle break.

Having fully described the construction and arrangements of the several parts of my improved car-brake, I will briefly describe its operation.

When the brakes are off the brake-shoes are upheld by means of the spiral spring acting on the three-armed lever to hold the eccentricshaft such position that the lower eccentric shall St rve to force apart the projections on the lower sides of the brake-levers, and thus uphold the brake-levers.

When it is desired to apply the brakes, the brake-chains are tightened in the ordinary manner,thus operating, through the medium of the intervening levers hereinbefore described, to rotate the eccentricshaft, and depress the outer ends of the levers, and force the brakeshoes against the treads of the rail.

The springs connected with the blocks to which the brake-shoes are pivoted allow the shoes to yield as the brakes are applied, and thus prevent any sudden shock tothe train as the brakes are applied. The upturned or curved ends of the brake-shoes allow the latter to slide along on the rails without danger of engaging with the ends of the rails, and the yielding rocking movement of the brake-shoes enables them to fit the rails closely, notwithstanding slight irregularities of the treads.

The inner flanges, projecting below the brakeshoes, serve to insure safety to the train, as they will retain the shoes on the rails even should the wheel or axle break while the train is in motion, and in the latter event the weight of the car would be transferred to the rails through the brake-shoes, producing sufficient friction to automatically stop the train.

It is evident that many slight changes in the construction and arrangement of the various parts of my improved brake might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention, and hence I would have it understood that l'do not limit myself to the exact construction shown and described; but,

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a railway-car brake, the combination, with swinging levers and mechanism interposed between their inner and adjacent ends for raising and lowering the outer ends of said levers, of vertically yielding and rocking brakeshoes connected with the outer ends of said levers, substantially as set forth.

2. In a railway-car brake, the combination, with a suitable bracket, of brake-levers havin g their inner and adjacentends pivoted thereon and an eccentric-shaft located between the adjacent ends of said brake-levers, substantially as set forth.

3. In a railway-car brake, the combination, with a pair of brake-levers, of a shaft located between the adjacent ends of said lovers, the shaft provided with two cams or eccentrics, one of which is adapted to raise the levers and the other to depress the outer ends, substantially as set forth.

4. In a railway-car brake, the combination, with swinging levers and mechanism interposed between their inner and adjacent ends for raising and lowering the outer ends of said lovers, of brake-shoe boxes pivoted to the outer ends of the swinging levers, vertically-yieldin g blocks located within the brake-shoe boxes, and brake-shoes pivoted to said blocks so as to have a rocking movement, substantially as set forth.

5. In a railway-car brake, the combination, with swinging levers and mechanism interposed between their inner and adjacent ends for raising and lowering the outer ends of said levers, of brake-shoe boxes pivoted to the outer ends of said swinging levers, each of said boxes having a vertically-movable block provided with a shank and a spring encircling said shank, a brake-shoe pivoted to the lower end attached to the opposite ends of the brakeshoes and supported by the brake-shoe box or guide-frame, substantially as set forth.

7. In a railway-car brake, the combination, with swinging levers and a shaft provided With cams or eccentrics journaled between the inner and adjacent ends of said swinging levers, of a pivoted bar or rod connected with the brake-shafts by suitable rods and chains, and intervening mechanism for rotating said eccentric-shaft for raising and lowering the brake-levers, substantially as set forth- 8. In a railway-car brake, the combination, with swinging levers and mechanism interposed between their inner and adjacent ends for raising and lowering their outer ends, of brake-shoe boxes pivoted to the outer ends of said levers and links pivoted at one end to the bolster and at-the other end to the upper ends of the brake-shoe boxes, substantially as set forth.

9. In a railway-car brake, the combination,

- with a swinging lever and a brake-shoe box flange, of a brake-shoe pivoted to averticallyyielding block located within said brake-shoe box, substantially as set forth.

10. In a railway-car brake, the combination, with two brake-levers pivoted to a bracket or support, said levers having T-shaped inner ends, of an eccentric-shaft journaled between the inner ends of said levers, the eccentrics being arranged and adapted to operate on the projecting portions of said levers, substantially as set forth.

1 1. In a railway-car brake, the combination, with swinging levers and mechanism for raising and lowering their outer ends, of brakeshoe boxes pivoted to the outer ends of said levers, and transverse braces, the opposite ends of which are connected with the brakeshoe boxes on opposite sides of the truck, substantially as set forth.

12. In a railway car brake, the combination, with the brake-levers and shaft provided with eccentrics or cams, as described, of a lever attached to said shaft, and link for connecting said lever with a swinging bar or rod pivoted to the bolster, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 8th day of December, 1879.

GEORGE D. PAUL. Witnesses:

BURRITT S. STONE, E. O. DONFE. 

